Orpheus Descending
by shushufangirl
Summary: the price the empress must pay to get him back was so much more than she could imagine


Characters are not mine, appreciate comments though.

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Orpheus Descending

He was my angel.

And as I stand here, holding the report of his death in my hand, I die too. Tell me again, how a handful of words can destroy your world.

He made me laugh. He made me feel beautiful. He was my friend. He was my true love. 

I close my eyes, and I remember. When he used to brush my hair for me and we would talk of the world beyond the imperial walls. Tell each other secrets never meant to be shared and dreams not meant to be. And as he kissed me on the cheek and whispered his farewell he gave me one last gift, a promise.

An incomplete soul will always find a way back to its other half, I promise you this.

He was my angel.

If people need a reason to live, then you are mine. I have never told you this. And now as I stand here, I decide my fate. 

***

It was only a story, something to terrify little children. And in my desperation, I could not keep myself from walking to that imaginary pool where the water stays eternally frozen and where hungry eyes await their next victim. 

I close my eyes, you are my reason for living and I need you here. I take my dagger and let crimson pearls stain the frozen mirror before me.

::Are you prepared to loose everything?::

I started; I did not expect the legend to be true. She came drifting towards me from the swirls of white that enveloped her domain.

The stories lied; she was not an old witch that would eat your soul. She was beautiful. Her eyes were as blue as the sky when the sun smiled and her hair was a long train of the purest white, which put the harem of snowflakes to shame. 

::Are you prepared to loose everything? I must warn you, my boons are not easily bought. The price you must pay is beyond what you can imagine. Many do not, cannot comply.::

She asked again. Her face a desert of emotions. Her voice a void. Perhaps the legend of the frozen hearts of the snow maidens is true.

I had lost him, what else mattered? What was the use of a soul anyway, if half of it is lost to me forever? What have I to loose?

~Yes.~

::I name my price only when you have asked your boon and you must not go back on it.::

What have I to loose?

::Some things are better left where they lie, and some promises are better left unkept.::

What have I to loose?

~Bring him back.~

Then my price empress, is your king.

~What?~

She looks at me with her unfeeling eyes and she walks away. I fall to my knees beside the pool. And I see him come toward me. A glimmer of lavender and a smile.

Houki!

Oh god.

Houki! Love! What are you doing here? 

Oh god.

What's the matter love? His smile fades to confusion and distress. He looks around the hamlet of winter in the summer sunset.

~I needed you back Ryuuen.~

What was the price Houki? What did you give up?

~Oh god, I did not think she would ask for that.~

I bury my face in my hands. He tries to draw my fingers away but his hands pass through my own and I feel for a moment, a brief brush of a nonexistent touch.

~He...Heika-sama!~

I sob and his face drains as he realizes the gravity of my crime.

You...you gave him in place of me?

~I needed you Ryuuen, you owned half of my soul!~

But he was your true love.

~No you were!~

Houki...you gave me half of your soul that doesn't mean that you must give me half of your heart as well. I do not have the monopoly of your heart, love; you know this.

He spoke so softly, like a wind brushing your cheek when a fever burns you within. 

Oh Houki.

He envelops me in his embrace. And as I feel his arms close around me, I realize what I have truly lost.

You gave up true love for half of your soul, when it should have been the other way around.

My tears fall unbidden.

~Oh god, Sahitei! I cannot live without him Ryuuen, I cannot! Forgive me but I cannot, please, please... I was wrong; I should never have asked her to bring you back!~

And I said it...before I could stop myself. And I wanted to close my mouth forever. To bury my voice beneath the ground, and drown the sorrow I could not deny.

And I felt him fade...his embrace was loosening....I was loosing him as well.

~Ryuuen!~

Houki, love, I promise you my half will always find your half. Believe me this time.

~Ryuuen!~

__

I'm sorry Houki,but please,please I ask you to live your life, for me, for Hotohori. For the child in your womb and for the promise I made.

And he leaned over and placed a little kiss on my forehead, and I knew he was right. And the pain of my mistake burned on my forehead, a mark I shall carry to my grave. 

***

::Go home child.::

~But I lost them both.~

::You could not face the consequences of your request.:: 

~It is not fair!~

::Fate never is. Go home child there is nothing left for you here.::

***

I awoke in my chambers.

As my maids combed my hair, my eyes drifted to my flawless brow. 

I walked to the doors, preparing to meet the world. And as my maids held the door for me...I knew, like a child waking from a dream he could not remember.

I knew I would walk into a king-less empire, a fatherless child and a soul searching for the other half that would complete it.

****

~end~

ok everyone is familiar with the story of Orpheus and Euridice? If you are not I suggest you find out coz Greek mythology should never be wasted.

Tenessee Williams has a play of the same name, i borrowed it coz it sounded nice and its better than the first title i thought of


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